PHILIPPINE JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY, 20I0,43 (2), 177-193 COPYRIGHT @ 20I0 PSYCHOLOGICAL AsSOCIATION OF THE PHILIPPINES Revisiting the Definition and Concept of Filipino Family: A Psychological Perspective Maria CaridadH. Tarroja' De La Salle University This paper reviews the current definition of Filipino families, starting from a sociological perspective to the challenge to Filipino psychologists. More recent research of sociologists on families recognize the changing structure and composition of Filipino families brought about by various issues, urban and global migration, changing role of women, and other societal issues. Whereas many psychologists have done research on Filipino families, few have looked into non-traditional families. Important psychological variables and processes such as family relationships, emotional connection, and communication need to be integrated in the definition ofFilipino families asidefrom family structure and composition. The challenges for the Filipino psychologists are to do more research on different types of families, and to take an active role in the reconstruction ofthe definition ofFilipino families that will be more inclusive of different types of family and more responsive to the changing societal needs. Keywords: Filipino families, non-traditional families, non-normative families, nuclear family, family relationships, family functioning, adoptive families, same-sex families Filipinos have been described as family-centered, and families have been observed to be closely-knit. Many therefore ask the question what defines a Filipino family then. Through the years, sociologists have studied the composition, structure, values, and definition of Filipino families (Go, 1993; Medina, 1995; Mendez & Jocano, 1974; Miralao, 1997). Recent studies of Go (1993), Medina (200 I), and Miralao (1997) on Filipino families indicated the changing family composition and structure brought about by the changes in the society, such as the global and urban migration, and the changing role of women. Medina (2001), recognized the increasing number of non-traditional families. However, not as many psychologists have looked into the conceptualization of the Filipino families from a psychological *E-mail: maria.caridad.tarroja@dlsu.edu.ph